High-school wrestling: State dual-meet tournament a winner with coaches

Wednesday

Jan 30, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 30, 2013 at 9:55 AM

For three weeks, an individual sport is focusing on the collective.

For three weeks, an individual sport is focusing on the collective.

After almost three years of planning and three decades of debate, the Ohio High School Athletic Association has sanctioned a state team tournament for wrestling in a dual-meet format. State championship teams will be crowned in three divisions on Feb. 9 in St. John Arena.

With last week's opening round in the books and regional quarterfinals and semifinals tonight at select host schools, there's excitement about the concept.

"We really like it," Hilliard Darby coach Brendan Moody said. "We preach a team atmosphere. This time of the season, we preach earning as many dual wins as possible and maximizing team points, so this fits into our philosophy."

Such an event has been a long time coming. Tournament manager Bruce Maurer said the idea was first proposed in the early to mid-1980s, and then again in the '90s by the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association.

In 2010, the dual-meet tournament earned official OHSAA backing, and the planning process began. The organization worked with coaches and athletic directors to figure out how to bracket hundreds of teams.

"The key thing was the amount of lead time we had," Maurer said. "The OHSAA committee met for over two years and put in around 40 hours of meeting time, discussing how to put on the tournament."

Team champions have been determined only by the finishes of individual wrestlers at the state meet. That tradition will continue on a separate track from the dual-meet tournament, with individual and team champions to be crowned on March 2 in Value City Arena.

Until this year, Ohio was the only state with a Big Ten college not to hold a state dual tournament. Moody and Marysville coach Shawn Andrews believe one of the benefits of the new tournament is that every wrestler is involved in the outcome.

"The dual meets bring your team together a little bit more," Andrews said. "Your best kid can only score six points, and your worst kid can score just as many points as they can in terms of team results. Everybody is valuable, and every match counts."

There have been scheduling issues. After his team earned a No. 4 seed in Division I, Region 6B, Lancaster coach Jon Spires elected to withdraw because of the potential for overwork. In addition to three previously scheduled events last week, the Gales faced a 11/2-hour drive for a dual at Mount Vernon and became one of 10 teams statewide to exit the Division I tournament before the first match. In Divisions II and III, a total of 29 teams withdrew early.

"Like anything else, the first year is going to have challenges," Spires said. "I had my schedule set in July. The (dual) schedule came out in December. . . . We would definitely (participate) with further notice and more time to plan around it."